Immediately after each of the two seismic events, technicians working for the Ministry of Public Works specialised in the various modes of transport proceeded to carry out a detailed review of the impact caused by the earthquakes.
The Monitoring and Analysis Committee of the Ministry of Public Works was also convened immediately. This committee was chaired by the Secretary-General for Institutional Relations, Fernando Puig de la Bellacasa, until the arrival of the Minister for Public Works, José Blanco, who suspended his pre-election agenda in Asturias.
Also sitting on this committee are the State Secretary for Planning and Infrastructures, Víctor Morlán, the Secretary-General for Infrastructures, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero, the Secretary-General for Housing, Anunciación Romero, the President of RENFE, Teófilo Serrano, the Director-General for Highways, José María Pertierra, and representatives from the National Geographic Institute, FEVE and AENA.
The Monitoring Committee is in permanent contact with the Crisis Cabinet gathered at the Ministry of Home Affairs, to which it provides support regarding the actions decided upon by the Cabinet.
During an initial analysis of the situation, which will continue over the coming hours, it was detected that the infrastructures of the State transport network in Murcia have suffered no significant damage.
The effects on the various modes of transport, as well as the action taken by the various services involved, are as follows:
Roads
A-7 Motorway Viaduct at KP 593.6 (southbound)
Longitudinal movement of the viaduct beams.
Failure of the viaduct joints without affecting the structural integrity of the beams.
Failure of imposts.
Road surface presents no significant damage.
The tunnel is located 100 metres from the viaduct
No structural damage visible at first sight within the interior.
Communications have been lost.
Cracks can be seen on the huts housing the transformers.
Actions
At first, the southbound (Murcia-Almeria) section of the viaduct was closed.
At 20:50 hours, a diversion was put in place to use the northbound (Almeria-Murcia) tunnel in both directions.
The damaged viaduct will remain closed until deemed structurally sound and long-distance traffic travelling to Almeria on the AP-7 will be diverted at the Totana junction 20 km before Lorca.
At 23:10 hours, traffic is flowing normally and no delays are reported.
Railways
Suburban railways
The suburban railway service on the C-2 Line between Murcia and Lorca was interrupted at 20:30 hours.
Once railway service was interrupted, RENFE transported the 40 suburban railway passengers who were travelling from Murcia to Lorca on the train stopped at the station in Alhama since 20:30 by road.
Six suburban trains were affected (three in each direction) until close of service at 23:06 hours.
Long-distance rail services
RENFE has established an alternative road transportation plan for the 33 passengers on the Talgo service between Barcelona and Lorca. Said long-distance service was terminated at the station in Carmen (Murcia) at 21:47 hours.
Stations
Material damage was incurred at the Lorca-Sutullena Station (collapse of the canopy structure) and three minor injuries were reported.
Neither the seaports in the Region of Murcia nor the Murcia-San Javier Airport were affected by the earthquake.
Housing
A team of technicians from the State Secretariat of Housing and Urban Development will accompany the First Vice-President of the Government, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, when he travels to Lorca on Friday in order to assess the consequences of the earthquake on housing and historic heritage buildings, to evaluate the damage incurred and propose measures for any repair work necessary.
EFE